Frank Lautenberg: “I rise to make a few comments about Sunday's ``60 Minutes'' program on Dr. Jeffrey Wigand and his statements about what…”

“I rise to make a few comments about Sunday's ``60 Minutes'' program on Dr. Jeffrey Wigand and his statements about what went on inside the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. Mr. President, for those who did not see this interview, Dr. Wigand told the Nation that Brown & Williamson acknowledged that cigarettes are a ``nicotine delivery'' device and that senior management rejected his efforts to make their tobacco products safer. Dr. Wigand also claimed that Brown & Williamson knowingly used carcinogens in their tobacco products. Mr. President, if these allegations were found to be true--if Brown & Williamson knew that nicotine was addictive, if the company knew that its products contained carcinogens, if it withheld this information from the public and this resulted in unnecessary death and disease--it would be absolutely unconscionable. Mr. President, I ask that a transcript of this interview be printed in the Record following my remarks. Mr. President, these accusations made by Dr. Wigand are extremely serious and I believe that Congress and the American people should fully understand the real dangers of tobacco products and all of the recent allegations involving the tobacco industry.”